Nigeria’s petrol import bill crashes by 96% in Q1 2026 as local refining takes off
By Aboki Forex —
Nigeria spent only N87.4 billion on petrol imports in the first quarter of 2026, a plunge of over 96 percent from the N2.27 trillion recorded in the same period last year. The National Bureau of Statistics released the latest foreign trade data on Monday, showing that Premium Motor Spirit, commonly known as petrol, has all but vanished from the list of Nigeria’s top imported goods.
The Q1 2026 figure represents a drop of N2.18 trillion, or 96.15 percent, compared to the N2.27 trillion spent on petrol imports between January and March 2025. For the first time in years, petrol did not appear among the top 19 traded products with the rest of the world, Africa, or West Africa during the review period.
Instead, the leading imports were crude petroleum oils, gas oil, durum wheat, data transmission machines, used vehicles, motorcycles, agricultural seeders, medicaments, aircraft parts, butanes, petroleum bitumen, sugar cane, herbicides, and fuel additives.
Lowest quarterly spend since 2022
The N87.4 billion spent on petrol imports in Q1 2026 is the lowest quarterly amount recorded since at least 2022. According to NBS trade records, Nigeria spent N2.69 trillion on petrol imports in Q1 2022. That figure fell by 24.5 percent to N2.03 trillion in Q1 2023, then surged by 87.6 percent to N3.81 trillion in Q1 2024. It dropped again by 40.4 percent to N2.27 trillion in Q1 2025 before the latest crash.
For every N100 spent on petrol imports in Q1 2025, only about N4 was spent in Q1 2026.
The NBS report also showed that total imports stood at N13.62 trillion in Q1 2026, an 18.17 percent decline from N16.64 trillion in Q1 2025 and a 21.05 percent drop from N17.25 trillion in Q4 2025.
Local refining drives the shift
The sharp reduction in petrol imports reflects the growing contribution of domestic refineries, particularly the Dangote Petroleum Refinery. For decades, Nigeria relied on imported fuel despite being Africa’s largest crude oil producer, because state-owned refineries operated far below capacity. That trend began to reverse after the Dangote refinery started supplying petrol to the Nigerian market in 2024.
According to the Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, the Dangote refinery supplied an average of 40.1 million litres of petrol per day in January 2026, accounting for 61.78 percent of national supply. Imports contributed 24.8 million litres per day that month.
By February, local refining’s share jumped to over 92 percent. The refinery supplied 36.5 million litres per day while imports collapsed to roughly 3.1 million litres per day. In March, Dangote supplied 34.2 million litres per day, with imports rising slightly to 5.9 million litres daily. In April, the refinery supplied 40.7 million litres per day, while imports fell further to 3.7 million litres daily, giving the refinery about 92 percent of the domestic market.
Impact on trade and forex
The disappearance of petrol from the list of top imports is expected to strengthen arguments that local refining is reshaping Nigeria’s trade patterns, lowering import dependence, and reducing pressure on foreign exchange. Sustained reductions in fuel imports could improve Nigeria’s trade balance, support the naira, and keep more value within the domestic economy, provided local production continues to meet demand.
The Q1 2026 data offers one of the clearest signs yet of a major shift in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector, with petrol imports falling to levels not seen in more than four years.